Crude oil trades at highest level in a month

27-Feb-09

Crude oil for April delivery rose to US$43.11 a barrel on the NYMEX, Brent crude rose to US$44.95 on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. Crude oil prices have risen past US$42/barrel, trading at levels near the highest in a month- As equity markets gain strength and US gasoline supplies decline, they have fueled the deduction of an improvement in fuel demand. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index climbed 1.2% to 174.35 in London, rebounding from a six-year low. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.5%. As per a report by the Energy Department, Gasoline stockpiles have dipped by 3.32 mln barrels to 215.3 mln barrels last week, along with an increase in average consumption of 9 mln bpd over the past 4 weeks, rising by 1.7% from a year ago levels. Inventories of crude oil rose 717,000 barrels to 351.3 mln barrels.